Despite what you may have heard, if you are a carb burner instead of a fat burner, you will find it hard to lose weight (especially if you are over 35)

And this is why…

Look at these two images below

Let me ask you a question.

Which of these images best describes how you eat?

Image 1 You have carbohydrates at most meals, fat sometimes and protein less often or

image 2 You eat moderate amounts of protein and (good) fats and small amounts of carbohydrates at each meal?

I bet if you are struggling to lose weight, image 1 will resonate with you.

Try this quiz:

Answer YES or NO to the following questions:

1. You eat sandwiches for lunch most days instead of meat and salad

2. If you go without carbs for a few hours, you feel dizzy and lethargic

3. If you go on a diet, you have stubborn fat that just won’t shift

4. You need to eat before you exercise for energy

5. You eat ‘LOW FAT’ foods because you feel that is the right thing to do

6. You do endurance exercise (such as a 1 hour walk) rather than high-intensity exercise or resistance training (working with weights)

If you answered YES to most of the questions above, you may be burning CARBOHYDRATES than FAT as your energy source.

Don’t get me wrong, carbohydrates are good for you as they give you energy, nutrients and fibre (help you be regular). The trick is understanding WHAT carbohydrates will help your weight loss efforts, WHEN to eat carbohydrates and HOW MUCH to help your body become a FAT BURNING MACHINE.

What Carbohydrates Should You Be Eating?

You may of heard of SIMPLE carbohydrates (also known as HIGH G.I. foods) and COMPLEX carbohydrates (also known as LOW G.I. foods).

The fact is SIMPLE carbohydrates act as sugar in your body and this will make you a carbohydrate burner as your body will burn this energy (calories) first.

TRICK/TIP #1

TAKE ALL fruit, white rice, potatoes, white pasta, biscuits, cakes, sugar, soft drink and pastry out of your diet for 6 days in a row.

Eat COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES such as sweet potato, brown rice or brown pasta at your meals instead. Do this to your 3 main meals a day and have a portion the size of your palm. Add LOADS of green vegetables and salad vegetables to your meals to fill you up

TRICK/TIP #2

STOP having a sandwich for lunch.

Try packing a colourful lunch filled with a portion of protein (meat, eggs, dairy), a portion of fat (avocado, oil, nuts or seeds) and a BIG colourful salad filled with the rainbow – think GREEN (leafy Salad, cucumber), RED, (capsicum and tomato) YELLOW (lemon juice) ORANGE (sweet potato ) and PURPLE (beetroot and cabbage)

TIP/TRICK #3

CHANGE your exercise routine.

If you currently walk 1 hour a day, you are teaching your body to burn calories and when you stop, so does the calorie burning. SPEED UP YOUR METABOLISM and burn calories while you are sleeping by 

1. Increasing Your Lean Muscle Mass by adding resistance exercise into your weekly workouts

2. Do Interval Training. Raise your heart rate beyond a comfortable level, maintain this for a small period of time (30 seconds – 1 minute). Recover. Repeat.

3. Get a personalized designed program by a qualified, registered trainer to give you maximum results in minimum time.

Losing weight over the age of 35 is not as easy as our younger sisters. In fact, between changing hormones, reduced lean muscle mass and our body getting older, things just don't happen as quickly. Don't give up!!

If you need support, motivation, encouragement or advice, please reach out to me, the first step is often the hardest!